School year bringing larger classes, fewer bus routes

By Ericka Mellon |
August 20, 2011
| Updated: August 21, 2011 9:27am

When Texas students return to public schools this week, some will see a slight uptick in class sizes and fewer teachers, while many will have to walk or get rides because bus service was cut to save money.

Last spring, parents and educators feared that state budget cuts would be so drastic they would lead to giant classes and 100,000 jobless educators. However, lawmakers scaled back the reductions amid protests, and recently released federal economic-stimulus funding also helped plug holes this year.

Houston-area school officials said they have worked to make sure students won't be severely hurt by the $4 billion statewide cut to public education over the next two years.

Yet some districts and schools are harder hit than others based on the state's funding system, changes in student enrollment and the ways administrators chose to balance the books.

"From the kids' perspective, everything that was available last year will continue to be available," Lance Stallworth, the principal of Spring Woods High School in Spring Branch, said of his campus.

Stallworth said his school lost eight teachers as a result of budget cuts and declining student enrollment, but all picked up other jobs (a couple of them not in education).

To make up for the smaller staff, Stallworth said his teachers will have to teach an extra class period instead of having that time to plan together. The teachers still will have one conference period without students.

"Our teachers decided that while we've had huge value from that planning it was important not to blow up our class sizes," he said.

The Houston Independent School District, the largest in the state, laid off about 720 teachers, librarians and other campus educators in the spring, but since has rehired at least 327 in their same jobs or others.

Cuts to staff

At Deady Middle School, Principal Michael Alvarez said he cut a librarian, journalism teacher and dean of instruction. But he hired a second counselor and, using existing staff, added dance and Spanish classes.

He said he reduced expenses by hiring lower-paid employees to oversee the library and technology, and his counselor agreed to cut her summer pay to help fund another position.

Mina Schnitta, the principal of Hogg Middle School, said she was able to offer new engineering courses with money from an administrative position. But she said she had to lay off the lone school counselor, replace the librarian with a clerk and eliminate choir to keep class sizes in the low to mid-20s.

"It was the most difficult thing I've had to do in my career," she said.

Few districts other than HISD have tracked individual employees since they initially received pink slips, making it impossible to determine how many teachers and other school workers are unemployed. Some who lost jobs have been absorbed into positions vacated through resignations and retirements.

Yet most local districts report that they will have fewer teachers and other staff this year. Katy ISD, which has 52 schools, will have one fewer teacher per campus on average, while the schools in Klein ISD will have one or two fewer teachers each.

Pasadena ISD laid off about 180 teachers in the spring, but at least 62 have been rehired.

Walking to school

Several districts - including Conroe, Fort Bend, Humble and Spring - ended bus service for most students who live within a mile or two of their schools.

Dickinson ISD is charging students a fee to participate in athletics - $25 for junior high and $50 for high school.

Spring ISD mom Ellen Doughten said she and her husband are juggling work schedules so their children, ages 7 and 8, don't have to walk to Anderson Elementary since their bus route was cut.

"We're on what I consider a busy road," she said, adding that she hopes to drive them in the mornings, while her husband - who usually sleeps in the afternoons because he works nights - will have to pick them up.

In a news release Friday, Spring ISD Superintendent Ralph Draper said, "we expect more of our students will be walking and riding bikes to school than ever before. We want to enlist the support of our community in helping to keep our children safe."